The present invention relates generally to toy dolls and, more particularly, to a toy doll which includes hair, the length of which is adjustable by a user in an automated manner.
Toy dolls having adjustable length hair are well known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,286 discloses a toy doll including a doll body and head having an aperture through which a lock of hair passes. One end of the doll's hair is captured in a plug or cup which moves inwardly and outwardly through a tubular sleeve under the influence of a biasing spring and mechanical retracting mechanism. Movement of the arms of the doll by a user causes a spool within the doll to rotate in either a clockwise direction pulling the hair back into the head or a counter clockwise direction whereupon the bias of the spring pushes the hair out of the doll head.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,698,134; 3,834,071; 4,170,085; and 5,116,277 each disclose toy dolls having heads on torso portions with an opening in the head portion from which extends a lock of hair. In each of these patents, the lock of hair is adapted to be pulled by a user out of the opening in the doll head to simulate the growth of hair. The interior portion of the lock of hair is secured to a cord or similar member which in turn is wound around a spool or similar member. The spool rotates in a first direction to permit the lock of hair to be pulled outwardly simulating the growth of the doll's hair. Manually rotating the spool in the opposite direction retracts the lock of hair into the doll's head to shorten the length of the doll's hair.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,670,451; 3,694,957; 4,917,647; and 6,139,397 each disclose a toy doll similar to the dolls discussed above in which a lock of hair may be pulled outwardly by a user to simulate the growth of the doll's hair. In the case of these four patents, pulling the hair outwardly results in the tensioning of a spring or other biasing member. When the user actuates a release mechanism, the spring or other biasing member automatically retracts the lock of hair into the head.
The present invention comprises an improvement over the above-described prior art dolls. A toy doll in accordance with the present invention includes an electric motor within the doll body operatively connected to a movement assembly for moving a lock of hair in or out of a head aperture. A switch is provided on the doll head for controlling the operation of the electric motor to either extend or retract the lock of hair. Further details of the structure and operation of the present invention will hereinafter become apparent.